Certain intestinal malfunctions, especially cancer of the colon and chronic ulcerative colitis, require removal of portions of the intestine. If large portions must be removed, an alternative passage for fecal excretion must be provided. The normal procedure is to form a permanent opening in the abdomen of the patient and to extend the open end of the small intestine through the opening to the outside of the body. The portion of the intestine which extends outward from the skin is called an iliac stoma. To capture the exiting feces, a bag is placed over the end of the stoma.
Along with the considerable physiological and psychological problems inherent in such a long-time prosthesis, the additional problem of intense skin excoriation or irritation around the stoma is common. Such irritation is caused by inevitable leakage of gastric acid and fecal drainage and can detract considerably from the patient's ability to lead a normal life.
Although modern medicine has done much to relieve the irritation in certain cases, the problem has, by no means been solved. In a typical case, a patient suffered with the immobilizing irritation for eleven years while trying a veitable pharmacopoeia of preparations.
Various conventional preparations were applied to the area of extensive burns, inflamation and marked eroded ulcers, surrounding the stoma.
One preparation contained Benzocain, zinc oxide, and oxyquinoline sulfate menthol in a petrolatum base. After application, the irritation would sting for a few seconds. The preparation would not adhere to the weeping skin. The anesthetic effect would last only momentarily and the preparation was quickly attacked and desolved by the fecal drainage. Upon continued application, a sensitivity to the skin would develop and the substance would actually aggrevate the inflamed area, causing the eroded ulceration to bleed.
Various other standard ointments and creams, containing vitamins A and D and silicones, were tried. All these preparations caused increased inflamation. Various steroid preparations, sometimes effective in analogous situations, caused increased inflamation and unbearable burning pain. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a method of treating certain skin excoriations which is quickly effective to relieve the condition without undesirable side effects.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a method of treating certain skin excoriations, the method involving a preparation which is inexpensive to manufacture and has a long shelf-life without special handling.
With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of steps and the details of the composition hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.